Sleeve former



Dec. 9, 1969 G. SCHLEMON 3,482,744

SLEEVE FORMER Filed Aug. 30, 1968 I NVEN TOR.

ATTORNEY;

United States Patent 3,482,744 SLEEVE FORMER George Schlemon, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to The Southern Mills, Inc., Atlanta, Ga., a corporation of Georgia Filed Aug. 30, 1968, Ser. No. 756,670 Int. Cl. D06c /00 U.S. Cl. 22363 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sleeve former of the type utilized to form and shape coat sleeves during a garment pressing operation, comprising a resilient rod bent intermediate its ends to form a pair of legs extending from each other at an acute angle, a first one of the legs being curved along a major portion of its length in a direction extending away from the second leg, and the second leg being curved along a major portion of its length toward the first leg, the second leg having a shorter radius of curvature than the first leg.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION After garments have been cleaned in a dry cleaning process, they are usually treated to remove the wrinkles from the garments and to generally shape or press the garments back into an acceptable and desirable configuration. One of the popular methods of pressing or shaping garments is to pass steam through the garments to wet the fabric of the garment so that it becomes relatively soft and subject to being shaped, and then passing heated air through the garment to dry the garment. During this steaming and drying process the garments are usually held in their desired shape, so that the wrinkles of the garment will be removed and the creases and other lines and garment configurations will be placed in the garment, as desired. In steaming and drying coats and other garments having sleeves, it is sometimes desirable not to impart a crease or fold line in the sleeves of the garment, but to roll the sleeves, or to press the sleeves without leaving creases.

One popular method of treating long sleeves of coats or other garments is to place the garment on a mannikinlike skeleton structure and pass the steam and heated air up into the structure and then through the fabric of the garment. Since the sleeves open into the bodice of the garment, the steam and heated air will pass down through and out of the sleeves. While the passage of steam and air in this manner through the sleeves functions to treat the fabric of the sleeves, it is difiicult to hold the sleeves of a coat or similar long sleeved garment in the exact configuration into which it is desired to have the sleeve shaped. Long sleeves are usually of larger diameter in the upper arm area than they are in the lower arm area, and usually sleeves curve forwardly from the upper arm area into the lower arm area. Because of the curvature and varying size of any given sleeve, and because of the different sizes and curvatures of different sleeves, it has been found difficult to provide a forming or shaping device which can be utilized with different shaped sleeves, which is easy to handle and manipulate, and which-does not leave bulges or other marks in the sleeves.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly described the present invention comprises a sleeve former for forming and shaping long sleeves of garments, which can be easily inserted into and withdrawn from a sleeve, which imparts the proper curvature to a sleeve, which allows finishing of a sleeve without imparting a crease to the sleeve, and which remains at a comparatively cool temperature during the operation of the garment finishing apparatus. The sleeve former comprises an elongated rod bent intermediate its ends. to form legs shaped generally like an over sized sleeve. The rod is flexible so that it can be contracted or reduced in size by compressing its legs toward each other, and inserted up into a sleeve.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a sleeve former for long sleeved garments which imparts a wrinklefree, crease-free appearance to the sleeves.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sleeve former which molds and shapes long sleeves of garments without imparting bulges to the sleeves.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sleeve former which is flexible and able to conform to the dimensions of most long sleeves.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sleeve former which is inexpensive to manufacture and expedient to use, and which imparts an eye pleasing shape to long sleeves.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the sleeve former, showing its legs bent toward each other in dashed lines. FIGURE 2 is a detail showing with portions shown in cross section, of the free end of a leg of the sleeve former.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularly to the drawing, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, FIGURE 1 shows sleeve former 10 which comprises an elongated rod 11 defining a bend 12 intermediate its free ends 14 and 15, which creates legs 16 and 17. Legs 16 and 17 are curved along a major portion of their lengths from bend 12. Leg 16 is curved away from leg 17, while leg 17 is curved toward leg 16. Leg 16 includes an area of reversed curvature 18 adjacent its free end 14. The curvature of sleeve former 10 is generally similar to a long sleeve of a garment, but in an expanded state.

As is shown in FIGURE 2, rod 11 includes internal rod element 19 and external tubular element 20. Internal rod element 19 is fabricated of a flexible metallic material, such as spring steel, while external tubular element 20 is fabricated of a smooth, corrosion-free material, such as nylon. Tubular element 20 is longer than rod element 19, so that the free ends 22 and 23 of tubular element 20 extend beyond the free ends of rod element 19. Plugs 24 and 25 are inserted into the free ends 22 and 23 of tubular element 20. Thus, internal rod element 19 is completely enclosed within tubular element 20.

Internal rod element 19 is generally of constant cross sectional area along its length, and the internal crosssectional area defined within tubular element 20 is slightly larger than the cross sectional area of rod element 19. Thus, an air gap generally surrounds rod element 19 within tubular element 20. The air gap functions as an insulation barrier between tubular element 20 and internal rod element 19, to inhibit the transfer of heat to and from internal rod 19 through external tubular element 20.

The resiliency of internal rod element 19 in combination with the strength characteristics of external tubular element 20, and tightness of bend 12 is combination with the lower arm effects of legs 16 and 17 are such that when legs 16 and 17 are urged toward each other, rod 11 will bend primarily in and adjacent bend 12 as shown in the dashed lines of FIGURE 1. This functions to reduce the spread of legs 16 and 17 without destroying the loop or breadth between the legs adjacent bend 12. Thus, sleeve former retains some of its shape, even when compressed in this manner.

OPERATION When a long sleeved garment is mounted on a mannikin or skeleton frame ofr treatment with steam and hot air, a pair of sleeve formers 10 are inserted up into the sleeve of the garment prior to the steam and air treatment. The legs 16 and 17 of the sleeve formers are pressed together, as shown by the dashed lines of FIGURE 1, to reduce the width or breadth of the sleeve formers, and the sleeve formers are inserted, bend first, up into the sleeves of the garment, with legs 16 facing the front of the garment and legs 17 facing the rear of the garment. When bend 12 of a sleeve former reaches the shoulder portion of the sleeve, the operator releases legs 16 and 17, whereupon the sleeve former assumes the shape of the sleeve. The garment treatment apparatus then goes through its steam and air cycles and passes steam and air down through the sleeves of the garment, which makes the fabric soft and removes the wrinkles from the garment.

Since rod 11 is tubular, or of circular outer configuration, the fore and aft portions of the sleeves formed by sleeve former 10 will assume a rounded configuration, as opposed to a crease. The curvature of legs 16 and 17 is such that the sleeves will be formed in their natural, somewhat crescent, configuration. The flexibility of rod 11 is such that it will assume the shape of virtually any popular long sleeve, including extremely wide or extremely slim sleeves. The outer texture of tubular element is such that sleeve former 10 can he slid up into and out of sleeves without encountering any excessive drag or frictional contact. Furthermore, the material from which tubular element 20 is fabricated has low heat transfer characteristics, so that the steam and hot air passing through the garment will function to heat tubular element 20 to a temperature where it is so hot it is uncomfortable for the operator to handle. Furthermore, the air gap between tubular element 20 and internal rod element 19 inhibits the transfer of heat through tubular element 20 to or from internal rod element 19, which also functions to keep tubular element 20 comparatively cool to the touch of the operator.

The upper ends of legs 16 and 17 converge toward each other in their portions adjacent bend 12, so that the width of sleeve former 10 adjacent bend 12 is gradually reduced. Thus, when sleeve former 10 is allowed to expand within a sleeve of a garment, legs 16 and 17 will merge smoothly with the front and back edges of the sleeve, thus avoiding any bulges or irregular shaping of the sleeve. The rounded bend 12 facilitates the insertion of sleeve former 10 up into a sleeve with no snags of the sleeve material,

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations may be made in the embodiments chosen for the purpose of illustrating the present invention without departing from the scope thereof.

I claim:

1. A device for shaping coat sleeves or the like comprising a generally U-shaped rod assembly bent intermediate its ends to form a pair of diverging resilient leg members, a first one of said leg members being curved along a major portion of its length from the bent portion of the rod assembly in a direction extending away from the second leg member to conform with the curvature of the front edge of a coat sleeve or the like, and the second leg member being curved along a major portion of its length from the bent portion of the rod assembly in a direction extending toward said first leg member to conform with the curvature of the rear edge of a coat sleeve or the like, the radius of curvature of said second leg member being smaller than the radius of curvature of said first leg member, said rod assembly comprising an internal resilient rod member extending through the bent portion of the rod assembly and along a major portion of both leg members of the rod assembly toward their terminal ends, and a substantially air impervious tubular member surrounding said rod member and forming the external surface of said rod assembly, said tubular member extending beyond the ends of said rod member.

2. The invention 1 and further including closure means closing the ends of the tubular member to enclose said rod member within said tubular member.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said tubular member defines an internal opening of a cross-sectional area greater than the cross-sectional area of said rod member whereby an insulating air gap extends between said rod member and said tubular member.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said rod member is fabricated of spring steel and said tubular member is fabricated of nylon and includes a smooth external surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,432,833 12/ 1947 Tanzer 223-72 2,868,424 1/1959 Helton 223-63 3,059,824 10/ 1962 Henry 22388 GEORGE V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner 

